All Those Pretty Lights
by GingerL47
Summary: A/U Lucas and Peyton are married and have tried unsuccessfully to have kids, so they decide to take in a foster child. Eventual Naley. More to come.
1. Prologue

**A/N: So this is my first story. Judge me, don't judge me, it's up to you. I leave it all in your hands. I'm also not one to hold my story hostage so feel free to leave comments, but you don't have to. I don't own _One Tree Hill, _but here is a lovely AU story about a married Lucas and Peyton and they take in a foster kid. Enjoy.**

Prologue

"Peyt- Peyt- Peyton! Calm down."

"Lucas, I can't calm down. We still need to shampoo the carpets and mop the bathrooms and change the sheets. Did you pick up the soy milk? The social services lady didn't tell us if she's a vegetarian or not. Oh and frozen yogurt. Do you think we have enough time to go to the grocery store? We can pick up veggie pizza. Wait what if she doesn't like vegetables? We'll just get a meat supreme and a veggie pizza. And potatoes, vegetarians can eat potatoes." Peyton rattled off her fragmented thoughts while pacing up and down the hallway of her's and her husband's home.

"How about this? How about we make a list of _reasonable_ things we can accomplish in the next two hours?" Trying to appease Peyton Scott was something Lucas was becoming quite adept at. He was rather proud of his ability to calm her down from her momentary overwhelming anxiety. "So we can definitely take care of mopping and changing the sheets together. If you want I can shampoo the carpet while you go to the grocery store. Let's make the shopping list short we don't want to shove all different kinds of food in her face before she even has a chance to move in. Just plan on baked potatoes with a side salad. We can have cheese and bacon bits and all the fixings sitting out. If she wants to dress up her potato she can, otherwise she can eat it plain."

"But what if she is still hungry?"

"I'm assuming that's what the ice cream and frozen yogurt will be for," Lucas replied with a grin knowing that relaxed Peyton was starting to return. "And plus if all else fails we can take her to the cafe and let her get more food."

"Thanks, Luke. I just want everything to be perfect for when she gets here."

"I know you do and so do I. This is what we've wanted for a while now. We're ready. We're beyond ready. I'm pretty sure that we could run an orphanage if we wanted to. Thank god we don't, but we could. Let's get started. We don't want to be cleaning up when the social worker comes."

The next hour and a half Lucas and Peyton worked together like a well oiled machine trying to finish up the last minute chores they had set out before the social worker came with their new foster child. After finally putting away the blueberry frozen yogurt and the birthday cake ice cream, Peyton flopped on the couch waiting on her husband to finish shampooing the room that would be their child's.

"Hey, Luke!" Peyton yelled over the noise of the electric cleaner.

"Yeah, I just finished. It should be dry by the time they get here. What's wrong, Broody?" Walking into the living room he could immediately tell that she was worrying over something bigger than whether or not their new kid would eat what they gave her.

"What if she doesn't like how I decorated her room? What if she and I don't have anything in common? What if she doesn't like me?" With the last question her eyes finally met his and he realized that was what the whole last minute freak out had been about. She was really just worried that whoever they ended up taking in wouldn't like her.

Lucas sat down next to her and pulled her towards him so that she was leaning on his side and had her head rest in on his shoulder. "I can't imagine anyone not liking you Peyton Sawyer Scott. Even the people that shouldn't like you, do. I mean not many people can tell big Los Angeles music producers to shove it, then end up working their way into partnering with them. You are capable of so much love and so much compassion. You were born to be a mother. There is no way this girl could not like you. Hell, I bet she loves you before you even broaden her taste in music. Just don't start her off with The Cure. We want her to be happy here," he said with a gentleness mixed with a hint of humor that took all the sting out of his insult aimed towards her favorite band.

Chuckling at his verbal jab, Lucas placed a kiss on top of his wife's head and offered the deepest kind of reassurance: his unyielding faith in her and in their relationship. "I love you, Peyton. I know that you are my soul mate and that we've had our ups and downs. We will still have them in our future. I'm not saying we won't be tried or that there won't be times in the future where we will just want to break down, but I know that I can face anything with you. I'm a stronger man because of you. This teenage girl, whomever she may be, will love you. You made me love you when I was a teenager. It should be a piece of cake."

Peyton didn't respond, just took Luke by his face and kissed. When she pulled a way she had an exasperated look on her face. "Of course you fell in love with me. You were a teenage boy and I was a hot teenage cheerleader, even if my legs were a bit, what was the word you used? Chickeny? But the sentiment is appreciated." She leaned in and gave him a more romantic kiss then resumed her former position, leaning up against him with her head on his shoulder.

_Ding Dong_

"You ready?" In those few brief moments before they opened the door Peyton had never been more certain that this was the right thing to do and that she was ready. She had also never been more terrified in her life.

"Yes. I'm ready." Lucas stood back and let her open the door to their new world.

"Hi, again, if you remember my name is Ms. Greta Bartowski. I represent the Department of Children and Families here in Tree Hill. This right here is your new foster child." The woman stated brusquely to the couple.

"Hey, I'm Haley James."


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N So usually I skip reading author's notes, but what the hell? This is my story. It's pretty cool getting an email saying someone has followed or commented on my story. Thank you. And I threw in a shameless plug for a severely underrated band. Now on with the show :) **

Chapter 1-

"Hey, I'm Peyton and this is Lucas. Feel free to call us by our first names, everyone else does. Come in, sit down, we have a really comfortable couch. I don't know how much Ms. Bartowski has told you so I'll give you a quick run down. Luke, here, is a writer, but in his considerable down time he works at the high school where you'll go."

"Oh really? What subject do you teach? I really like English, but math is good, too. With english there are so many different worlds to escape to and there is always a new story to be heard. On the other hand math is a very logical and steadfast. There's no 'Surprise! Two plus four now equals eleven.' You gotta appreciate that." Haley said, all in one breath.

"Actually I coach the basketball team, but at least you'll know one person when you go to school," Lucas reassured her.

"What do you do Mrs. Scott?"

"I own my own record label, Red Bedroom Records. And please call me Peyton. The only person who calls me Mrs. Scott is the check out clerk at the grocery store and she only does it because her boss yelled at her when she called me Peyton. But anyways. I have a massive music collection, if you're in any kinda mood and need a good 'shut out the world' session let me know. I also have an art studio set up in the back of the house. I kind of left your room white. Consider it a blank canvas; we can decorate it however you want. I figured we can stick your stuff in the guest bedroom or as we like to call it 'Nathan's Dungeon'. Then spend this weekend painting and picking out furniture and stuff. When I was in high school my room was this always-changing thing. It kind of had it's own life."

"That sounds great. I consider myself a music kind of person. I used to take piano lessons when I was little. Right now I'm really into this band called Lord Huron, they're a bit under the radar, but really chill and good. They work to balance out my mile a minute brain," Haley said humorously. "But who is this Nathan guy? Do you have another foster kid? Ms. Bartowski told me that I was the only person under 18 living here. I'm sure he's fine and all, but I would like to meet him before the final decision is made on if I stay here or not. Nothing personal, but I prefer to make that decision myself."

"No, don't worry about Nathan. He's my half-brother. He only comes into town when he's on break from college and he only stays the night here when his parents are driving him crazy. He's a freshman at Duke so that makes him only a year older than you." At Haley's confused look Peyton picked up the back story where Lucas had left off. "Okay here's the Cliff Notes version. Luke's dad left his mom and him when he was little. Karen, Luke's mom, opened her own café and ended up spending a lot of time with Dan's older brother, Keith. Keith ended up adopting Lucas when he was in high school. Dan, in the meantime, met Nate's mom, Deb, they got pregnant then married. Now there's a Nathan Scott in the world. Deb and Dan get along about as well as fire and water. When Nathan's home he usually spends the time with them, but when the house reaches critical mass, he comes and avoids any figurative bullets exchanged, or literal now that I'm thinking about it, by staying here. We had the extra room so we figured why not. Clear up the confusion?" Peyton finally asked Haley.

Lucas coughed. "What? Did I leave anything important out? Half brothers, childish parents, college aged." Peyton ticked them off on her fingers. "Nope I covered all of the basics. She was going to find out anyways, I'm just being upfront about it. Oh and one more thing. He's on Duke's basketball team. He can be a little bit… How can I put this? Full of himself." Peyton finished with a nod.

"Well now that she knows my whole family story, how about we let Haley unpack while we finish up with all the paperwork. I'm sure there's more. Right, Ms. Bartowski? Go on Haley, it's upstairs. Just go back by the front door you'll see the stairs off to the left. It's down the hall, first door on the left. The bathroom is the second door on the right. It shouldn't be too hard to find. It's the one that stands out because it hasn't been touched by my wife's art," Lucas told Haley with a teasing smirk for Peyton. "So are there any forms we need to fill out or any last papers we need to sign? I mean even with UPS we have to sign for the package." Peyton rolled her eye's at Lucas's lame attempt at a joke.

"Mr. and Mrs. Scott, I have to do one final inspection of the home space to make sure everything is in the condition required. After the final inspection we will have to have you sign that Ms. James is now in your custody and you understand that as such you are responsible for any actions or trouble she may find herself in. After all of the papers have been signed our business will be finished for the time being. I was concerned about this Nathan you have mentioned. I'm required to ask if he will be a problem or a threat to Ms. James," Greta Bartowski droned on giving the impression to the young couple that she would rather be doing just about anything than giving a child to them.

"No there is nothing to worry about with Nathan. He's a good kid and really he doesn't even spend that much time here. I just wanted to make him feel welcome here so I gave him his own bedroom. That's all. Plus it was like a bonding thing with my 7 years younger brother," Lucas explained to the woman hoping this wouldn't affect their opportunity to take in Haley. "Is that going to be a problem? We can call him, if you like, and schedule an interview."

"That won't be necessary. Family visits are allowed. Now for the home inspection, I need to look at the kitchen, bathroom, and her bedroom. I'm just going to look for any health threats and any signs of physical issues and to make sure you are well enough stocked to feed her. So if you can lead me to the kitchen? The sooner we start the sooner I can get out of here."

The trio filed into the kitchen silently. Greta Bartowski said nothing to either Lucas or Peyton, just walked around the spacious area with a clipboard and a pen poised to take note of any problems. When she finally opened the refrigerator, Peyton couldn't take it anymore and quickly excused herself to go check on Haley to see if she found everything alright.

"Knock, knock," Peyton announced herself to Haley. "Can I help you settle in or anything?"

"No. I'm okay. Do you mind me asking why you aren't down with the robot? Oh sorry… I wasn't thinking. I have this unbelievable ability of talking with either too much sarcasm or speaking without thinking at all. And on rare occasions I do both at the same time." Peyton started laughing at her young charge's honesty.

"No. Don't worry about it. She really is a robot, isn't she? But she's kind of like a robot whose batteries are dying. She can't quite bring herself to full capacity. Has she been like the whole time you've been with her?" Peyton was finally starting to relax and joke around with Haley. It felt great to Peyton, natural even. Like something was falling into place.

"Oh my god, yes. She has." Haley said when she finally caught her breath after laughing at Peyton's assessment of her unenthusiastic case worker. "Since I met her it's been the same monotoned personality. No wonder you left them. Wait why did you leave them?"

Peyton stepped into the room and sat down on the bed, her expression suddenly becoming serious. "Honestly? I was too anxious and having her walk around my house judging whether or not I'm fit to take care of anyone else was getting to be too much. Lucas is really good in crises and in high pressure situations. So am I for that matter, but I've been getting ready and cleaning for so long that my mind keeps going over a mental checklist to make sure I did everything I was supposed to."

At this revelation Haley sat down on the bed next to Peyton. "Thank you. You're my first foster home and from the horror stories I've been told, I got lucky. You and Mr. Scott seem really nice," Haley tried comforting Peyton.

"Okay seriously you have got to stop calling us Mr. and Mrs. Scott. It's Lucas or Luke. I answer to both, even at school. The boys all call me Coach Scott, but the students can call me Lucas or Luke," Lucas corrected Haley from outside the bedroom. "We just finished the kitchen and bathroom inspections. Is it cool if we come in here and start to 'inspect'?"

"Yeah we were just having a girly bonding moment. I don't have a lot of my stuff unpacked but all embarrassing items are safely out of sight. So 'inspect' away," Haley threw her arms out wide, granting them access. "How did the rest of the house go?"

"Passed, so far. May I ask why this carpet is damp? You don't have a leaky pipe do you? That's not good if you do," Ms. Greta Bartowski bluntly asked the Scotts.

"Oh no that's my fault. I made Lucas shampoo and wash the carpets this morning. They haven't had a chance to dry all of the way yet. I wasn't sure if Haley was allergic to any animals and I wanted to air on the side of caution. We don't own any animals, but you never know. I'm sorry I'm not always this neurotic. I'm just anxious."

"Well you've passed the last inspection. Now to the forms. I need you to sign these three forms. Initial these other papers. And finally sign and date on the last page of this packet. Do you have a pen up here or do we need to go downstairs?" Haley quickly produced a pen from her desk.

"I love school supplies. I don't feel like I live anywhere until my desk is unpacked," Haley quickly explained with a light blush.

"Okay after you finish I will be on my way." The papers were quickly passed around by the three adults. First Lucas straightened up and handed his papers to Greta. Then Peyton followed suit. "That does it. I will file these with my office and then we will send you copies in the mail for your own files."

Everyone was making their way down to the front door. Peyton opened the door to the woman and on her way out Greta Bartowski looked back and said "There aren't many happy endings with my job, but with you two I'm hopeful."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: So **I**'m becoming seriously addicted to your reviews and follows and favorites. Thank you. I love me some Laley friendship and I hope you do too. No Nathan just yet. I want their introduction to happen organically. I don't want a wham bam thank you ma'm love story. Just be patient and you will be rewarded. Bonus points for anyone who listened to the band I put in the last chapter. **

Chapter 2-

"Haley, how about you go and put some of your stuff away while Peyton and I go and put this paperwork in our safe?" At that Haley nodded and walked up the stairs to her new bedroom. She had to concentrate to make sure she went into the right room, with all of the doors shut she could have easily ended up in the office instead of her room. After opening the right door she walked in and looked around her. She could imagine how she could arrange all of her things, but most of her stuff was in storage, along with most of her parents' belongings. She had the key and could go get it anytime she wanted, but she couldn't quite bring herself to going and looking at the couch where her parents sat her down and consoled her after her first bad grade or her mom's vanity where she kept what little jewelry she owned or the bookshelf her dad accidentally hammered his thumb while trying to assemble it. It was too soon and much too painful to face. As it was thinking about those few memories and letting them through the wall she built to keep those things locked up had her eyes welling up. In that short amount of time everything caught up to her. The simple fact that she couldn't go home anymore nearly brought her to her knees.

Before Haley truly broke down, she closed her door. That was all she could manage before sinking to the floor and started crying from grief. She was semi-aware that there were two strangers in the house with her so she tried to quiet herself. She wanted to be alone in her sorrow. She didn't want to ruin this happy day for two seemingly loving and generous people. She rested her head up against the door that was the only thing keeping her upright. Took a few breaths and tried to calm down; she heard a quiet knocking from the other side of the door.

"Hey buddy." That was all Lucas said to her. He didn't apologize to her. Nor did he show his pity. He acted as only someone who has been through it can. Offering the silent support that she so desperately wanted but didn't know how to ask for. "I can't imagine what you're going through or what you're feeling. Those are yours and only you know how you feel, but you're not alone. Growing up I had a… strained relationship with my father. He never really supported my mom and so my uncle stepped in. He was the best, definitely made up for what I was lacking from Dan Scott. In the middle of my senior year Keith died. It was right after the paperwork had been put in for him to adopt me. Me and my mom, we weren't sure if the adoption would go through because it was still under review from the government. After a few weeks I realized that no paper could tell me whether Keith officially became my father or not because he had been there for me and my mom from the very beginning. He would always be my dad. That didn't assuage my grief or help take away the pain I felt every day when I missed him. Slowly though I started to have these moments of happiness and in those moments I felt closest to Keith because I was doing what he would have wanted. I could hear him in my head saying 'Luke what are you doing? You need to get off your ass and live. _Really_ _live, Luke_.' It got me through my darkest days and brought me to my brightest. I know you're going to be going through your darkest days, just know you are not alone. Okay? You have me and you have Peyton and we will do whatever you need."

Lucas offered a soft, genuine smile when Haley opened the door to thank him. She was surprised to see that he was sitting on the floor mirroring the same position she was sitting in moments before. She was also surprised to see he was alone, "Where's Peyton? I thought she would be here to coach you through this girly feely stuff." Haley's attempt at a joke made Luke give a soft chuckle. "No she got called in to work. Her new artist was having a 'freak out to the max' or something. She had to go and make sure everything was okay for tomorrow's performance," Luke explained to Haley.

Suddenly Lucas brightened with an idea. "How about, and feel free to shoot me down if you're not in the mood, but how about I take you miniature golfing? Then we can come back here and I will cook you whatever you like. We just have to be careful and not let Peyton into the kitchen while we're cooking. Actually this is a general rule, never let Peyton cook unsupervised. I love her, but she's a terrible cook. Anyways golfing and dinner?"

Haley swiped at some stubborn tears that insisted on falling during Lucas's speech, put on as big a smile as she could while trying not to cry, and nodded. "That sounds good. Just give me a minute to wash my face and I'll be down."

After Luke left, Haley went to her purse and pulled out a picture frame. It was the only personal item she had made sure to pack, but hadn't able to bring herself to look at it. Her parents with her in sandwiched in between. It had been just an ordinary day when someone decided that they needed a picture to commemorate the dinner they just ate. Each face was filled with such love and happiness, it was Haley's favorite picture of her family. After looking at it for a few moments she set it on one of the few furnishings her room already had: her bedside table. She washed her face and was happy that she didn't cry when she looked at the picture. As she was about to turn out the light to her new bedroom she turned to the picture of her parents and whispered "_I'm going to go and try to live my life. I'm not sure I can do that without you, but I'm going to try."_

_ "_Let's go play some Goofy Golf."

At first it was a little awkward for both Haley and Lucas. Lucas wasn't sure how to be an authority figure to a girl only a little bit younger than him. And Haley was still a little emotionally raw from earlier. Lucas decided to break the silence with a joke "So this grasshopper walks into a bar and the bartender looks at him and says-"

"'Hey! We have a drink named after you.' The grasshopper looks at him and says "You have a drink named Doug?" Haley finished.

"Well I was going to use the name Steve."

"Doug is so much funnier than Steve. I can't believe you were going to go with Steve." And with that Lucas didn't mind that Haley jumped in on his joke. He accomplished what he wanted to do, give Haley a break from what she was going through, even if just for a short time. He made her laugh in a time in her life that makes it seem impossible to ever smile or be happy again.

The good natured banter between the two set up for an enjoyable 18 rounds of putt-putt. Complete with smack talk, 50 cent snow cones, and completing such arduous tasks as not hitting the barn doors when they open and close, hitting the ball into the frog's mouth so the ball can roll out the other end and into the hole. Haley was grateful to Lucas for getting her out of the house and not letting her get wallow in her room. His ability to live after his uncle's death helped her to get off the floor and try to live.

Once the duo was back in the car and on their way to the house Haley turned to Lucas gave him a genuine smiled and thanked him. In that moment Lucas knew he would do anything to make sure the girl in his care was safe. He knew he would never be her father nor would he want to be, he would just try everyday to make up for the hand Haley Bob James had been dealt. He smiled back at her and replied in the most sincere of tones "You're welcome."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-

_Beep, beep, beep._

"That will be the pizza. What kind do you want? Veggie or meat lovers?" Lucas looked over to Haley who was sitting on the couch in the living room.

"I will take a piece of both. Will you grab me a napkin while you're up, I would hate to trash something other than your putt putt score." Haley replied with a teasing grin. Lucas returned with two plates of pizza and napkins stuffed in his front pocket. "Thanks, Luke. So tell me about Tree Hill High. I'm still not sure how I'm going to like it. At my old school I was a nerd, but it was okay that I was because it was a magnate school. Everyone was a nerd."

"I graduated from Tree Hill. I was a Raven and went to the state championship, but I also graduated with honors. You'll just have to be patient, but if it makes you feel better tomorrow we can introduce you to Nathan's good friend Brooke. She's a senior and, don't hold this against her, she's the head cheerleader. She's really creative and sweet. I think you two will get along really well."

"What's tomorrow?" Haley knew there was something going on, but couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

"Peyton's new artist is performing live for the first time at my mom's club, Tric. She'll debut as long as we can actually get her on the stage. That's what Peyton is taking care of right now. Mia, her artist, is having a bit of stage fright right now. It's the all ages night so high schoolers can go, too," Lucas explained.

"That sounds amazing. There was never any place where kids could hear _good_ music where I used to live. It was all that crappy local bands playing covers of covers of songs that never quite reached Gold status. Let me get this straight. Your mom owns both a café and a club. Your wife owns her own record label. And you just coach basketball and dabble in writing? Man, you got lucky."

"Hey now! I had a best selling novel a couple of years ago. And last year the Ravens won the state championship game." Luke defended himself in a way that Haley could her the "_so there"_ that was missing at the end of the sentence. She laughed and tried to look apologetic, but couldn't quit pull the look off; Luke joined in laughing.

Peyton came in to her home several minutes later to see her husband and foster daughter laughing over pizza and didn't want to interrupt their moment so as silently as she could she pulled out her camera and took a photo. She looked down at the screen and started to tear up; she saw Lucas and Haley sitting on opposite ends of the couch but with Luke's head tilted back with mirth and Haley leaning over clutching her sides, Peyton knew that they were either making fun of something or poking fun at someone. "What's so funny?" Peyton let the other two know that she was there.

"Lucas was being a little childish and I thought it was funny and then he joined in and then we just couldn't seem to stop laughing. Are you hungry? I think we saved you some pizza unless Luke ate them all."

"I didn't. Go grab you some food and join us. We're talking about how all of the women in my life are so much more impressive than I am. I know that's one of your favorite topics. You can add the 'bringing home the bacon' angle to conversation."

Peyton sat down on the couch adjacent to the one Lucas and Haley relaxing in. "I'm not bringing home the bacon just yet. Mia has to finish her album then once it's released we'll be raking in the dough. John, you remember John? The dic- I mean jerk from L.A. He wants the album finished two weeks before then he originally said. He is driving me absolutely crazy. I know I had to partner with him, but god sometimes I want to kick his teeth in."

Haley had turned to Peyton, completely transfixed by her shop talk. "I thought you owned your own label."

"I do. Small labels like mine are great to help take a small artist like Mia and help her mature and get used to the music business. _But_ it's hard to have an artist become the rock stars they deserve to be with such limited resources. So I tricked my way into partnering with my old boss in Los Angeles, quite a brilliant plan hatched by me and Mia, so he offers help in marketing and distribution and all of those things. I get to stay here in my home and focus on helping Mia do everything she wants in music. And in life, come to think of it, I'm helping her out with one of our bartenders, Chase."

"That sounds so amazing. I would love to come and see you work sometime. Oh sorry. Overstepping boundaries. There I go talking without thinking again."

Peyton laughed. "It's cool. It's nice to have someone in the house who likes music and interested in how its made. Broody, over there, just cares that he can put into his iPod and that it sounds good and isn't too whiny. I still haven't forgiven him for dissing my favorite band earlier today." At Haley's questioning look, Peyton preempted her question "My favorite band is The Cure. Luke let me think that he liked them almost the whole time we were dating, but told me that he never liked them as much as I thought that he 'only liked them because I loved them' or something sappy like that."

"Well tomorrow sounds great. So I'm withholding judgement on Brooke until I meet her, but if she is too peppy I can't promise what will come out of mouth will be too polite. My filter just isn't what it used to be."

"You're going to introduce her to Brooke?That's a great idea. She is a really sweet girl. She may come off as too happy for her own good, but she has this great heart and she is loyal. She was there for Nathan so much through his parent's dramas that we became pretty good friends ourselves. She helped to make my wedding dress. SHe's good people. Oh speaking of Nathan, did you hear back whether or not he's going to come tomorrow?" Peyton asked Lucas.

"Yeah his class on Monday was cancelled so he's going to come to the concert and then check on his mom. I invited him to dinner on Sunday. I would have told him to invent Deb, but I don't want to risk Dan getting invited accidentally."

"Good. Haley, you can meet him and figure out if you're comfortable having him around. If you aren't it's not a big deal. He has a couch at the Davis time anytime he wants, but I think that might be because Victoria likes having eye candy around the house." Peyton reassured Haley.

"Okay that works for me. I think I'm going to go to bed now. It has been a long day. Thanks for… well for everything." Haley turned and went up stairs.

"Me, too. I'm wiped out. You coming to bed, honey?" Peyton asked while walking down the hall to their bedroom.

"No, actually I think I'm going to write tonight. I'm feeling a little inspiration coming on."

Peyton looked at her husband's retreating figure with a mixture of pride, relief, and contentment. They had finally found the missing piece in their lives.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. Working in a vacationing area, you don't get much spare time during spring break season. Hopefully updates will start to come quicker with the May lull. To make up for my sucky updates, I made this chapter longer than normal. Enjoy! **

__Chapter 4

_Knock, knock, knock_

Peyton and Lucas exchanged a questioning look as neither was expecting anyone to come over. Lucas made his way to the door and wondered if maybe Haley had someone coming over. "Did Haley mention anyone coming over today to you?" Peyton glanced towards the stairs and sighed. "No… Luke, I don't think she's mentioned any friends to me." Once he opened the door a grin grew over Lucas's face.

"Well look who finally opened the door. Took you long enough. Hey Brood and Broodette. How is the lovely couple on this monumental day?"

"Brooke Davis. What a surprise."

"A good one I hope, Coach Scott." Brooke quipped back with her trademark smile. "So I was hoping to kidnap your wife and have her help me pick out a killer new outfit for Tric tonight."

"I have no problem with it. I was just going to write until later. You should take Haley with you, too." Luke turned and looked up the stairs "HALEY! Come down here; there is someone I would like to introduce you to."

Haley came down the stairs to find her foster parents talking to a girl who looked around her own age. Haley didn't keep up with all of the latest fashion trends but could tell that this stranger did. She had long, straight dark brown hair and Haley could help but think that if she wasn't a cheerleader then she was no judge of high school girls at all.

"Hi, I'm Brooke Davis. Just Brooke. These two may try to convince you that it is okay to call me Brookie. I won't respond. Peyton has taken to calling me B. Davis. It's okay for her to do it and may be, if you're lucky, I might let you do it." Brooke laid down the law in a joking tone, but Haley could tell that underneath she was serious. Or at least serious about the 'Brookie' thing.

Brooke's introduction had Lucas and Peyton laughing. Once Peyton could catch her breath she looked at her young friend and asked in a teasing tone "And what about what Nathan calls you?"

"What? I don't know what _you're_ talking about. You must be taking something pretty great. Why didn't you share?" Brooke's attempt at deflecting failed. Lucas just gave her a look that clearly expressed the silent '_Oh, Please' _that both he and his wife were both thinking.

Peyton gave Brooke a sideways glance and asked in a very quiet tone "Does 'The Brookie Monster' ring any bells?" With that Peyton, Luke, and Haley all burst out laughing, while Brooke gave a mildly disdainful look at her friend.

"And to think I was going to ask you to come shopping with me. Forget that. I will just take my new best friend Haley and you can stay home with your dumb husband."

"Come on Brooke. I need a little retail therapy after the sh- crap I've had to go through to get ready for tonight. I have a few of hours free. I desperately need some girl time. I ask Luke to go shopping with me and when I'm trying on dresses he looks at them and says 'Mmm… Baby, you look great.' It's great for the first five minutes, but after a while you need an unbiased opinion. Or just an opinion that won't be afraid that if he says the wrong thing he will be sleeping on the couch."

"Well I guess you can come along P. Scott. Just know you are on thin ice. You coming, Haley?" Haley, who had watched the exchange between the three friends with fascination and entertainment not wanting to interrupt the flow of the banter until now, nodded her acceptance of Brooke's offer. "Good. First we can go and pick out some cute dresses, then go get our nails done, and finish up the afternoon with lunch at Karen's. Luke, you wanna meet up with us for lunch?"

"Yeah. That sounds good. I haven't seen Mom in a couple of days. Call me whenever you're on your way. I'll meet up with you. You might have to try a couple of times to get through to me, though, I can get stuck in my writing bubble quite easily."

"Baby, the house could be on fire and you wouldn't realize. When you're writing nothing short of punching you breaks you out of your trance. I'm not kidding. The last time, I left a bruise," Peyton explained to the high schoolers.

"So I'm going to meet your mom, Lucas?" Haley inquired.

"Yup. She'll love you. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried about that. Do you think she'll give me a job? I don't want you two to have to pay for everything. I don't want you to feel like I expect everything to be handed to me on a silver platter. I want to help out any way I can."

"Haley, that's sweet, but we want to help out," Peyton could tell that Haley was going to be stubborn about this, but she had to try to convince her that she didn't have to do anything. "It's kind of why we became foster parents. We like the idea of taking care of another human being so don't feel like you have to get a job to pay for anything. Now if you feel so inclined to get a job Karen's is a great place to work and I'm sure she would love for you to work there. Today, though, I'm paying for a new outfit and your manicure because its my big day and I deserve to do whatever the hell I want. Got it, girly?"

Haley had just started getting her laughter under control, but lost it again at Peyton's final statement. "Got it. Let's go already. Luke won't be able to get any writing done with us being this loud."

After the girls left, Lucas picked up his cell phone and made a couple of calls. "Hey Nate. I need your help. How far are you away from Tree Hill? Oh? You're already here? Perfect. Meet me at Tric in 30 minutes. I'm gonna call up Skillz and the guys. I have a surprise planned for Peyton since its her big premiere night."

Brooke was striding into the fourth boutique of the shopping excursion and was showing no signs of slowing down. Haley and Peyton were lagging behind and received an exasperated exhale from their fearless leader. "Is she always this…" Haley searched for the right word "tenacious when she goes shopping? I swear I lost all feeling in my feet about an hour ago. How many dresses can one person try on?"

"Oh she's just warming up. I'm giving her 30 more minutes then I'm putting my dead foot down. They need some tender loving care from a professional foot scrubber. Self pedicures just aren't cutting it right now."

"At least you found a killer dress for tonight. Do you need s-h-o-e-s to go with it?" Haley asked in a mock whisper, afraid that if Brooke overheard her they would be dragged to yet another store and be forced to watch their dark haired companion try on pair after pair until she gave up and decided to get them all.

"No, I'm good. I bought this amazing pair of high heels for a celebration dinner when Luke's book was released, but I only wore them for a couple of hours. As Brooke would say, they deserve to be out in the open. In their natural environment or something like that. You know what, I'm done. Brooke! Let's go. My feet and I are no longer on speaking terms. It's manicure, pedicure time. I'm going to go to the salon and reserve three seats. You and Haley finish up here then come and meet me."

"I guess that was her not so subtle way of having us get to know each other so I know at least one person before school on Monday."

"Listen, Haley, I've known the Scotts for a really long time." Brooke started her speech in rare moment of seriousness. "I knew them before they were married and I became really close to them when Nate started hanging out with Luke. They've wanted a kid for as long as they've been married. Now I don't know you, I don't know what you've been through, but I do know them. They are great people with these _amazing_ hearts. No one deserves a child more than them, but they can't have any. So whatever your plan is don't hurt them. You seem really sweet and smart and funny and I'm only telling you this because I thought you should know and I know they would never burden you with their marital problems. I only know because I helped Peyton when drunk one night. She doesn't drink, but that day she found out there was only 5% chance of her ever having kids." Just like that she flipped the switch back to her normal bubbly self, "Now let's pay for these jeans and go get our nails done!"

Haley felt like she had gotten whiplash from Brooke's mood swings, not to mention the amount of information overload she just received. All she could say was "Okay…" and follow Brooke. As Brooke took her bags from the sales associate, Haley gathered her thoughts about what she just found out. "That's it for me. Okay, friend, let's go meet Peyton."

"Wait, Brooke, before we meet up with Peyton. I had no idea that's what happened with Lucas and Peyton, but that doesn't change the fact that I have no intention of hurting them. I just lost my parents. I just met them and the foster care system is notoriously unreliable, but what if we're that one family out of 1000 that works. I don't have any parents, they don't have any kids. For the record, you don't know me well enough to lecture me. With that being said, I can appreciate your loyalty to your friends. _Now_ lets go get our nails done."

"Thanks for helping out today, guys. Beer's on me."

"Hell yeah."

"No, none for you Nathan. You're not 21 yet. Beer for Skillz, Mouth, and me. You get coke. But seriously guys, thanks for everything. I couldn't have done it without you. "

"Naw man. It's all good. P. Swayer's gonna love this. Though I won't say 'no' to a free beer."

"Skillz, we've been married for three years. I think it might be time to call her P. Scott. Brooke has."

"P. Scott. _P. Scott._ Nope. Doesn't have the same ring to it. I'm gonna stick with P. Sawyer. Now enough about yo wife. Dawg, how is Duke lookin' this year? I need to know if I should brush off my Scott jersey or if I should hide my head in shame."

"First off, you should never let your Scott jersey get dusty. When I'm in the NBA you'll need it to prove that you knew me when I still played on the River Court. And about this year, I'm thinking Final Four, if not going All The **WAY**!"

"Wow. Nathan did you just have a moment of humility? I don't think I've heard you mention the possibility of you _not_ winning the championship," Mouth teased him in the innocent way that only he can get away with.

"I'm trying to better myself. Women love a humble man. If I tell a girl that there is absolutely no way I'm going to lose, she gets offended thinking I'm talking about scoring with her. BUT if I say I'm just happy to play whenever I can, the girl thinks I'm sensitive and nice. Works every time. Speaking of girls, when am I going to be able to meet this niece of mine?"

"She's not exactly what you're expecting, Nate."

"Don't worry about it, Luke, I'm great with kids. All I have to do is show them my magical basketball skills and they're so impressed with me I can do no wrong," Nathan incorrectly assumed with his cocky smirk.

"Whatever you say, man," Luke replied mirroring Nathan's smirk. "You'll get to meet her tonight at Mia's performance. Peyton and Brooke are bringing her."

"Good. I can prove to you that little kids love me."

**A/N (Again): So feel free to let me know of any mistakes I've made. I usually start writing after work and before I go to sleep. Also on a different note, there are only a few days left on the Veronica Mars Kickstarter project. Even if you only donate a dollar, it still helps. :) Okay that's it for me. I hope you liked this chapter. It's probably my favorite so far. **


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